In the previous article, I discussed some of the more common hurdles you may encounter when beginning to implement standards. Whether your company is developing software, manufacturing hard drives, or delivering flowers, building a culture of trust is pivotal. A business knowing what to expect from its employees—and customers knowing what to expect from that business—builds a level of trust that’s hard to achieve without standards. Standards give a company a truly repeatable and consistent process that benefits all parties involved and promotes success at every turn.
Over the next few articles, I plan to discuss each of these hurdles in detail and help develop a plan to overcome them—all leading toward your end goal: bringing the numerous benefits of standards to your business, and maybe earning a pat on the back.
The first hurdle: bringing leadership on board. This can be a tricky feat, especially if you begin the conversation unprepared. Before you start discussing standards, a good first step is to gather examples and create supporting documentation.
Begin with areas you believe would benefit most from having guidelines and practices put in place. These are often areas of poor performance or processes that make things unnecessarily complicated—places where project deadlines keep being set inaccurately or where inefficiency persists in simple tasks. Remember, the goal is not to point out the shortcomings of a business’s processes, departments, or employees, but to use them to illustrate the benefits that standards can bring.
Of course, you’ll need to explain the actual benefits that standards offer the business. Showing where improvement is needed will inevitably lead to the question: How exactly will standards help? I’ve put together a list of what I believe are the biggest selling points of standards.
- Quality and Consistency
- Predictable outcomes: Standards ensure that every product or service meets the same quality benchmark, regardless of who produces it or when.
- Fewer errors and defects: By defining how things should be done, standards reduce variability that leads to mistakes.
- Customer trust: When people know they’ll get the same quality every time, brand loyalty grows naturally.
- Efficiency and Productivity
- Streamlined processes: Standardized workflows eliminate guesswork, saving time and reducing redundant effort.
- Faster onboarding: New employees can ramp up quickly when there are clear procedures to follow.
- Easier scaling: When operations are standardized, it’s far easier to expand into new markets, open new locations, or increase output without chaos.
- Brand Strength and Market Differentiation
- Unified brand identity: Consistent messaging, design, and experience reinforce brand recognition and trust.
- Professional image: Adhering to well-defined standards conveys competence and reliability to clients and investors.
- Customer confidence: When people see consistency, they infer integrity and reliability — two of the most valuable brand traits.
- Continuous Improvement and Innovation
- Data-driven refinement: Standards make it possible to measure performance consistently, revealing areas for improvement.
- Foundation for innovation: Having structure frees creativity — because teams don’t waste energy reinventing basic processes.
- Knowledge retention: Institutional knowledge becomes documented, not dependent on specific people.
- Collaboration and Alignment
- Cross-department cohesion: Everyone speaks the same “operational language,” improving coordination.
- Supplier and partner reliability: Standardized expectations make collaboration smoother and reduce misunderstandings.
- Cultural cohesion: Standards reinforce shared values and a unified approach to work.
A sure way to strengthen your argument is to come prepared with examples of where time can be saved or costs reduced. Use the list above and see if you can build calculations to justify these savings. It’s always an easier sell when you can show that the budget will be in a better place.
In the next article, I’ll tackle the next two hurdles and discuss how to build a standards team—and share tactics to ensure you’re not wasting the company’s time or money when designing standards.
